I just bought the compute module (3) & I/O board...came with no instructions. I looked for the user guide to get Raspbian running on the module, but only see it for the regular RPI. I think this one is a different set of instructions.

WHERE are the setup instructions/tutorial for getting the compute module running with Raspbian ??

There is a page on this site under compute module called GETTING STARTED, but it only contains a goofy video about what is an RPI, there is no actual information about getting anything running!!!

The link is not very clear on setting up raspbian...it says: For those who just want to enable the Compute Module eMMC as a mass storage device under Windows...who care about windows?? ..it a looks like a jumble of steps going in 10 different directions...I want a list:
1 do this
2 do that
3 do this
4 reboot
They mention early on about using an old rpi to do the install,, but then start talking about windows instead! This is quite confusing.

Is there a video stepping from unpacking the box to having it up and running?

Ignore the parts that mention Windows and follow the Linux bits (the notes do assume a bit that if you are goint o use a CM for anything you probably are pretty clued up on Linux).

Step by step would be something like following these parts of those instructions

Building rpiboot on your host system (Cygwin/Linux) You only need to do the first part, which is how to build the tool, once. The second part Run the usbboot tool and it will wait for a connection: needs to be run every time you want to write a new image or access the eMMC directly from your Linux system.

Writing to the eMMC - Linux This is the install stage.

Going by some recent comments about the current images it may be a good idea to run a sync command after the dd command and before unplugging. This is to make sure the image is fully written and not partly buffered.

Disclaimer: I don't have a CM and have never tried these instructions on one. However I have used them in exactly the same way to write to a blank SD card on Pi models A, A+ and Zero.

thanks RPDOm, will give your suggestions a try..I just think the instructions here are not very well written, somewhat of a jumble.
...for the regular PI..it leads you very step-by-step, unpack the box, put this memory card in your PC, do this, do that, etc.
Here, it seems like they are intermingling about 3 different ways in their description...It would be much more clear to have 3 separate, complete lists!!

thanks RPDOm, will give your suggestions a try..I just think the instructions here are not very well written, somewhat of a jumble.
...for the regular PI..it leads you very step-by-step, unpack the box, put this memory card in your PC, do this, do that, etc.
Here, it seems like they are intermingling about 3 different ways in their description...It would be much more clear to have 3 separate, complete lists!!

I'm also surprised I didn't find any videos for the setup procedure

It is sold as a "INDUSTRIAL COMPUTE MODULE" and was created specifically because there was a demand, it is not aimed at "newbies"

If you have a RPi (which many people who use a CM develop on first) then Flashing the eMMC is reasonably straight forward..

Though yes a guide which gives separation between MS NT / Apple macOS / Linux Operating System would be beneficial

what does this mean? how do you check (not sure what to type or exactly what to look for)...can you use the file manager? how/where does a device "appear"?

After rpiboot completes, you will see a new device appear; this is commonly /dev/sda on a Pi but it could be another location such as /dev/sdb, so check in /dev/ before running rpiboot so you can see what changes.

for the following, do you just type in "Raspbian" or "raspbian" ...not sure what to use here or where/how to find it...I wish the instructions were complete!!

After rpiboot completes, you will see a new device appear; this is commonly /dev/sda on a Pi but it could be another location such as /dev/sdb, so check in /dev/ before running rpiboot so you can see what changes.

You can use the file manager, or just the good old command line (which is probably easier). Before running rpiboot type

[
thanks.... ls /dev/sd* did the trick. (I do have sda)..would have never come up with that combo!!

quote]You type in the name of the file you downloaded and unzipped.[/quote]

my pi3 has been running for several weeks or months...it there a way to find the name of this img file.I thought the operating system was copying from my pi3 to the compute module, but I don't have any file names

It doesn't copy the OS that is running on your Pi. It needs a downloaded install file. Raspbian Lite from the downloads page is a good one to start with (you probably don't need a GUI on a compute module) and the standard CM3 only has (IIRC) 4GB of eMMC storage. Raspbian Lite is under 2GB, so will fit easily.

This sounds like very very bad news, since a gui was the purpose for buying the module...to run some LCD display's & have graphics interfaces (such as a touchscreen)& developing them with the compute module & graphical designer apps...are you saying this won't be a possibility?

You can of course use GUIs on the compute module and playback video via OpenMax IL. But the lack of storage space means that a traditional desktop enviroment might be a bad choice. Personally i would look into Qt5.

ghans

Last edited by ghans on Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

• Don't like the board ? Missing features ? Change to the prosilver theme ! You can find it in your settings.
• Don't like to search the forum BEFORE posting 'cos it's useless ? Try googling : yoursearchtermshere site:raspberrypi.org

This sounds like very very bad news, since a gui was the purpose for buying the module...to run some LCD display's & have graphics interfaces (such as a touchscreen)& developing them with the compute module & graphical designer apps...are you saying this won't be a possibility?

It's not impossible, but you won't be able to do it with the standard full Raspbian package. Then again, that package has a lot of stuff in it that you won't need for a basic GUI.

Your best bet is to start with Raspbian Lite and add the GUI stuff as needed. To test you should do the work on a standard Pi with SD card and get everything working, then see how much card space you have used. If it is well under 4GB you will be able to run it on the Compute Module.

are ambiguous and poorly organized. Obviously I am not the only one who finds them so. Documentation is hard to do. The organization may seem obvious to the writer, but is only confusing to the reader.

In addition, these instructions or the software they tell you to install do not seem to work for Win7 or Ubuntu 16.04.

Is your shift key damaged?
You should mention which version you have and which hardware (own or CMIO) you're using.https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... /README.md should give you a good starting point.
If you know how to configure/use a normal Pi using CM should be easy.

In case you should struggle with CM3 go and buy an CM3 lite and a uSD card. Build your raspbian image and See if it will für into the 4GB of your CM3.
If not:add a uSD socket to your baseboard and use Lites

There is no setup GUIDE for getting the CM3 with IO board running (shouldn't that be fundamental info for the GETTING STARTED page)...what exists is mostly a bunch of random sounding directions & no link to the Raspbian to install ...want it set up just like pi3

WHY is there no step-by step guide or information at all on the getting started page?
There is no guide, this horribly written document certainly isn't one (it doesn't even say what file to install, or where to get it). Were you referring to something else????
==========================================

Flashing the Compute Module eMMC

The Compute Module has an on-board eMMC device connected to the primary SD card interface. This guide explains how to write data to the eMMC storage using a Compute Module IO board.

Please also read the section on the Compute Module Datasheet.

Steps to flash the eMMC on a Compute Module

To flash the Compute Module eMMC, you either need a Linux system (a Raspberry Pi is recommended, or Ubuntu on a PC) or a Windows system (Windows 7 is recommended). For BCM2837 (CM3), a bug which affected the Mac has been fixed, so this will also work.

Note There is a bug in the BCM2835 bootloader which returns a slightly incorrect USB packet to the host. Most USB hosts seem to ignore this benign bug and work fine; we do, however, see some USB ports that don't work due to this bug. We don't quite understand why some ports fail, as it doesn't seem to be correlated with whether they are USB2 or USB3 (we have seen both types working), but it's likely to be specific to the host controller and driver. This bug has been fixed in BCM2837.

For Windows users

Under Windows, an installer is available to install the required drivers and boot tool automatically. Alternatively, a user can compile and run it using Cygwin and/or install the drivers manually.

Windows installer

For those who just want to enable the Compute Module eMMC as a mass storage device under Windows, the stand-alone installer is the recommended option. This installer has been tested on Windows 10 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows XP 32-bit.

Please ensure you are not writing to any USB devices whilst the installer is running.
1.Download and run the Windows installer to install the drivers and boot tool.
2.Plug your host PC USB into the CMIO USB SLAVE port, making sure J4 is set to the EN position.
3.Apply power to the CMIO board; Windows should now find the hardware and install the driver.
4.Once the driver installation is complete, run the RPiBoot.exe tool that was previously installed.
5.After a few seconds, the Compute Module eMMC will pop up under Windows as a disk (USB mass storage device).